Machine for making terminals



Aug. 18, 1942. A W HOERNLE 2,293,506

Nm'cHINEv FOR MAKING TERMINALS Fileduan. 1o, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 1 Aug. 1s, 1942. A. w. HQERNLE 2,293,506

MACHINE FOR MAKING TERMINALS Filed Jan. l0, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.6. FIG-2.5.

FIG. 8

, INVENTOR. ,G Q @dow wm www IM ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 18, 1942 UNITED STATES PTENT GFFICE 6 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and improved machine for making terminals.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide certain improvements on the machine disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,230,818, issued February 4, 1941.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine whereby the planar spiral head of the terminal can be readily formed into a different shape.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple device which can be used in combination with the machine described in said U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,230,818.

Other objects of the invention Will be stated in the annexed description and drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, reference being made to the aforesaid U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,230,818 for further details.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the improved devlce.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view which shows the essential parts of the slide members which are elements of the device. In this View the slide members are shown spaced from each other.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View, partially in elevation, on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a Side View, showing the slide members which are illustrated in Fig. 3, when said slide members are in closed position.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View, partially in elevation, on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 'l is the same as Fig. 6, save that Fig. '7 shows the final operation in shaping the head H which is shown in Fig. 8, to the head H which is shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a terminal which is made according to the aforesaid Stewart application.

Fig. 9 is a perspective View showing the final shape, according to my invention, of the head H which is shown in Fig. 8.

The device includes a drive shaft 90 at the front or right-hand side of the machine. This shaft is provided with a pulley 93, which is driven by means of a belt 94. Said shaft 90 is also provided with a hand wheel |31. The shaft 90 drives the longitudinal shaft 20, by means of the FH intermeshing bevel gears 9| and 92. The housing 89 is provided with a bearing 89a for the adjacent end of the longitudinal or main shaft 20. This main shaft is provided with cams 44, 68, |2I, H2, whose functions will be later described.

The main shaft 2i) drives the countershaft 57a. by means of intermediate gears which are located in the housing 89. These gears are not illustrated, as they are conventional per se. The wire-stock W is fed intermittently and forwardly (from left to right) by means of a reciprocating carriage 7, whose laterally spaced side plates are connected by the transverse fastening members 9 and la. The part of the wire or stock W which enters the machine is straight and said wire is fed in the direction of its length. This carriage l is reciprocated by means of the link 8, which is pivotally connected to said carriage 1. The longitudinal movement of the carriage 1 is guided by the guide members 6, which are rigidly connected to frame 5. The clamping lever 33 is yieldingly urged to turn in the clockwise direction by the spring 35, one end of which is connected to the arm 31, which is rigidly secured to the carriage l. The clamping lever 33 is pivotally connected at 34 to lugs 32, which are rigidly connected to the top plate of the carriage 1.

When the carriage 'i is slid rearwardly or to the left, the clamping lever 33 can turn and slip relative to the wire W. When the slide carriage 1 is moved forwardly, from left to right, the clamping lever 33 clamps the wire W against the adjacent abutment plate of the carriage I, so that the wire is then fed forwardly in unison with the forward feeding movement of the slide carriage l. During the rearward movement of the carriage l, the wire is held clamped against reverse movement, by clamping means which are located in the casing 38. These clamping means are shown in the aforesaid U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,230,818.

The cam 44 is associated with a cam roll 45, which is turnably mounted on the respective leg of an angular lever 45, which is pivoted at its bottom vertex to the frame of the machine. A suitable spring (not shown) holds the roll 45 in contact with the periphery of the cam 44. The other leg of lever 46 is provided with an adjustable push screw 49, which abuts the head 50 of a horizontally reciprocating plunger, which is thus actuated by means of the cam 44, in order to clamp the wire within the casing 38. The spring 5! yeldingly maintains said plunger in its nonclamping position. The plunger which has the head 50 is not illustrated herein, since this detail is fully illustrated in the aforesaid U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,230,818.

The shaft 5M has a gear 5l, which meshes With a speed-reduction gear 58. The winding plate is connected to gear 58, so that winding plate 69 is turned in unison with gear 58, about the central axis of said gear. This plate 69 operates to form the head H on the shank T of the terminal. The connection between the shaft 51a and the winding plate 69 may be the same as that shown in said U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,230,818. The bending lever 65, which is the same in function as the corresponding bending lever described in said U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,230,818, is turned by means of the cam 99 and the cam roll 91.

The front or right-hand face of plate 69 has a boss 63 which has a bore through which wire W is pushed intermittently and forwardly by carriage 1, and said bore has a lateral offset in said boss, into which the end of the wire is bent laterally by lever 95. The plate 99 has a pin 19 which forms head H around said boss, as described in said U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,230,818.

The slide member |99 is provided with a turnable cam roll |14, which contacts with the periphery of the cam H2, so that. the slide member |99 is laterally reciprocated. The movement of the slide member |99 is guided by the lateral guides |9a, which are fixed to the frame 5 of the machine. One end of a bar l is rigidly secured to the top of the slide member |99. The link l5 is pivotally connected to the bar |5 and to :a lever |'1. This lever ||1 is pivotally connected by the pivot pin I9 to the frame of the machine. A

pin ||1a projects upwardlyy from the top surface ofthe sliolel member |91 and this pin ||1a is located in the slot |113 of the lever I i1. The slide members |91 and |99 are therefore simultaneously moved in respective opposite directions. The member |91 is guided by fixed guides |98.

The inner longitudinal face of the slide member |99 is provided with a pair of vertical and longitudinally separated recessesv I9. Said inner face also has a longitudinal groove or recess ||9, which intersects the vertical recesses H9. The wire is pushed through said longitudinal groove ||9. The front vertical edges of the slide members |99 and |91 are provided with die-portions or die-recesses |25. Thev front'lateral faces of the slide members |799l and |91 are respectively provided with transverse grooves |32 and |3|. The bent ends of the stripper springs |29 and |29 are respectively located in said grooves |32 and |3I. The bottom end of the stripper spring |29 is connected by screw |39 to the respective fixed, guide ||9a. The bottom end of the spring |28 is connected by a companion screw |39 to the respectivefixed guide |98.

The inner longitudinal face of the slide member |91 is provided with a pair of projections |95. As shown in Fig. 4, each projection |95 has a V-shaped recess |9611. When the slide members |09 and |91 are in the closed position which is illustrated in Fig. 5., the vertically spaced tips of each member |96 enter the respective vertical recess H9, so that the wire is clamped at the narrowP apex of each respective recess |96a. This narrow apex has substantially av semi-cylindrical shape. The shank T is thus supported at two longitudinally spaced zones. This support is only slightly frictional.

The shank T is thus gripped by the members |99, subsequent to the formation of the head H. The wire is then fed forwardly by carriage 1, in order tospace head H from the boss of the winding plate 99. The next operation is to sever the shank T from the wire W. A knife-guide |29a is fixed to the slide member |99 by the members |'2|lb. The knife |29 is slidably mounted in said guide |29a. One end of this knife |29 s provided CFL with a roll |22, which is maintained in contact with the periphery of the cam l2 l, by means of a suitable spring (not shown). A cooperating knife member |29 is fixed to the slide 91.

The tension spring |29 yieldingly holds the slide member |99 to the inoperative spaced position which is shown in Figs. l and 4.

The male die member 95 is fixed to a longitudinaly movable slide ii, whose movement is guided by the laterally spaced guide members |9| and |92, which are secured by the screws |93 to the frame 5 of the machine. The guides i |9a and 98 are respectively fixed to the frame 5 by the screws ||9b and |9811.

An arm 99 is pivotally connected at 91 to the frame of the machine. The upper end of arm 99 is pivotally connected to one end of link 99, whose other end is pivotally connected to slide |99. The pivot pin connection between the link 99 and arm 99 is provided with a cam roll 98. The cam 95 of the shaft 99 thus operates the link 99, in order to push the slide |99 and its die |25 into the position shown in Fig. 7, so that the cooperating female die-members |25 of slides |91 and |99, and the male die-member |95 bend the intiallyformed head H, into the final shape H. This final shape H may be Varied as desired, as this depends upon the shapes of the female and male die-members.

The spring |94, whose right-hand end is connected to the fixed member |04a, yieldingly holds the slide |99 in a position in which the die-member |95 is spaced longitudinally from the diemembers |25. The right-hand end ofthe stripper member |25 is fixed by screws |21 to the fixed member |94a.

The rod |35 is connected off-center at |35a to a face of the gear |34, which meshes with a gear |33 of the shaft 99. The function of the reciprocating link |35 is to reciprocate the slide carriage 1 by means of an intermediate lever connection of the type which is shown in the aforesaid U. S Letters Patent No. 2,230,818.

An important feature of the invention is that the frictional clamping grip which is exerted on the wire by the longitudinally spaced members |96 is sufficiently small, so that the pressure of the male die member |95 can push the shank T towards the rear of the machine and from the position illustrated in Fig. 6, without bending said shank, to the position illustrated in Fig. '7, so that the initially-formed head H is forced into the female die members |25. The knife |29 is then out of the Way, so that the shank T can thus be pushed longitudinally in a direction reverse to the direction of the feed of the wire relative to the closed slide members |91 and |99.

The completed articles shown in Fig. 9 are discharged through the chute 88a.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

After the initially-formed head H has been shaped by the means disclosed in the aforesaid U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,230,818, and after said head H has been pushed into the position shown in Fig. 6 by carriage 1, the slide members |99 and |91 are moved towards each other, into the closed position illustrated in Fig'. 6. The movable knife |29 is then reciprocated so as to sever the shank T from the wire W. The bending lever 65 then downwardly bends the part of the wire which projects beyond boss S3, into the lateral slot of said boss. The movable knife |29 is then moved out of the way, and the slide |99 is moved rearwardly towards the closed slide members |99 and |91, which are maintained in closed position.

The male die-member rearwardly pushes the shank T, thus forcing the head H into the die recesses |25, and shaping the head between the female die which is formed by said recesses, and the head of the male die-member |05. The slide members |09 and |01 are then moved away from each other, while the head H is supported upon the male die-member |05. The die-member |05 is then moved forwardly and longitudinally away from the slide members |01 and |09, and the free end of the stripper |26 strips the completed head I-I from the die-member |05, so that the completed die terminal which is shown in Fig. 9, can fall through the chute 88a. The slide members |01 and |09 are then moved away from each other.

The initial shape of the head H may be spiral, as shown, or any other shape.

As shown in Fig. 5, the tips of each member |06 enter the respective recess ||0 fairly deeply, but the half round apex of each recess |0641 then supports the adjacent part of the straight wire, wtihout substantially bending the wire. There is only enough frictional grip to hold the straight part of the wire against accidental longitudinal movement.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions can be made without departing from its spirit.

I claim:

l. A machine having feeding-means adapted to feed straight wire intermittently forwardly in a straight line, head-forming mechanism operated while the stock is stationary to wind the front end-portion of the wire into an enlarged head, laterally movable members located at respective opposite sides of said line of feed and movable laterally towards each other to operative position and movable laterally away from each other to inoperative position, said members having die-portions which form a female diemember when said laterally movable members are in operative position, said laterally movable members having wire-holding means adapted to hold the wire behind said head and to permit the rearward movement of the wire, said feedingmeans being adapted to feed the wire forwardly after the head-forming mechanism has been operated so that said head is located in front of said laterally movable members while said laterally movable members are in inoperative position, means adapted then to move said laterally movable members to operative position, means adapted then to cut the wire behind said laterally movable members, the head-forming mechanism being then operative to bend the wire which is located at the rear of said laterally movable members, a male die-member, means adapted to force the male die-member towards said female die-member to push the head rearwardly into said female die-member and to shape said head between said female and male diemembers.

2. A machine having a feed-device adapted to feed straight wire intermittently forwardly in a straight line, a rotatable head-forming device adapted to wind the front-end portion of the wire into an enlarged head, movable bending means adapted to bend said front-end portion into engagement with said head-forming device, holding members located laterally on opposite sides of said straight wire and movable laterally towards each other to operative position and movable laterally away from each other to inoperative position, said holding members being located in front of said bending means, said holding members having die-portions at their front faces which form a female die-member when said holding members are in operative position, said holding members having adjacent longitudinal faces, one of said longitudinal faces having a longitudinal straight groove which is adapted to receive the straight wire, said straight groove being intersected by a second groove, the other longitudinal face having a projection which is located to enter said second groove, said projection having a recess in which the wire is supported Without bending the wire when the holding members are in operative position, said proj-ection supporting the straight wire sufficiently loosely to permit the rearward movement of the straight wire in said longitudinal groove, a male die-member movable towards and away from said female die-member, cutting mechanism adapt-ed to cut the wire between said bending means and said laterally movable holding members, operating mechanism timed to actuate the parts of the machine to perform the following steps in the following sequence:

a. To feed the straight wire to the head-formin-g device and to the bending means;

b. To operate the bending means to bend the wire into engagement with the head-forming means;

c. To rotate the head-forming means to wind the head;

d. To feed the straight wire between the spaced holding members until the head is located in front of the spaced holding members;

e. To move the holding members to operative position;

f. 'Io operate the cutting mechanism;

g. To again operate the bending mechanism;

l1.. To move the male die-member towards the female die-member until the head is shaped between said die-members;

i. To move the male die-member away from the female die-members and to move the holding members to their inoperative position.

3. A device according to claim 2 in which the male die-member is shaped to pull the shaped head out of the female die-member, and a stripper adapted to strip the shaped head from the female die-member.

4. In Aa machine of the class described, holding members movable towards each other tov operative position and away from each other to inoperative position, said holding members having die-portions which form a die-member when said holding members are in operative position, said holdying members having adjacent longitudinal faces,

one of said faces having a straight longitudinal groove through which straight wire can be fed and also having a plurality of additional grooves which intersect said longitudinal groove, the other longitudinal face having respective projections which respectively enter said additional grooves when said holding members are in operative position, said projections having respective recesses in which the straight wire is located and supported without bending said wire when said holding members are in operative position, said projections supporting the wire suiciently loosely so that the wire can move longitudinally in said longitudinal groove when said holding members are in operative position, said holding members being movable laterally away from each other through a distance which exceeds the maximum width of said die-portion.

5. In a machine for shaping the head of a member which has a straight shank, a female die-member which has a recess, a male diemember movable towards the recess of said female die-member and away from the recess of said female die-member, holding means associated with said female die-member and adapted to hold said straight shank with said head spaced outwardly from the recess of said female die-member, said holding means being suciently loose so that the pressure of the male die-member against said head moves said head into the recess of said female die-member.

6. In combination, a pair of female die members which are movable towards each other to assembled position and which are movable away from each other, each said die member having a recess at a face thereof and also having a longitudinal groove which communicates with said recess, said recesses being assembled when said female die members are assembled to form a single die-recess, said grooves also being assembled when said die members are assembled to form a longitudinal passage which communicates with said die-recess, the assembled die members being adapted to support the straight shank of a headed work piece loosely in said longitudinal passage and with the head of said headed worli piece spaced outwardly from said die-recess, a punch which is longitudinally movable towards said recess and away from said recess in a longitudinal direction which is parallel to said passage, said punch being shaped to press the head of the Work piece into said recess when the punch is moved towards said recess, said punch being also adapted to frictionally hold the finally shaped head and to move the finally shaped Work piece out of said female die members when said punch is moved longitudinally away from said female die members, stripping means located external to said die members and adapted to strip the nally shaped Work piece from said punch; after said finally shaped work piece has been withdrawn wholly from said femaley die members.

ADOLPH W. HOERNLE. 

